I still prefer a physical product but am loathe to pay extortionate postage & packing. I have had two items in my tax dodgers basket for some time now and am growing impatient. I need another item to qualify for free p&p. It needs to cost more than £5:03. I thought the good people of The Afterword could choose an item for me.
The rules are, in order of importance:
1. It has to be available from the Tax Dodgers
2. It must cost £5:03 or more (but not much more).
3. It has to be something I don’t already own. Please be aware I have catholic taste and already own thousands of CDs.
4. There needs to be a good chance I’d enjoy it.
The prizes are a pat on the back and my undying love.
I am the judge and jury and my decision is final.
Over to you!
Is £9.99 too much? I loving this album at the moment, re workings of classical pieces from the Decca archive by electronic artists.
Intriguing. I like the cover and the concept. A definite contender.
My suggestion (if you haven’t already got it) is Album Of The Year contender White Denim – Stiff.
Check the Amazon previews – it’s an absolute corker
Also recommend Hybrid Kids
A curio of 80s Synth
cover versions done in style of other bands
I honestly thought I had a White Denim record but I can’t see it on their discography. The LP I was thinking of is dreamy stadium rock. This group must be different. I enjoyed Bop English last year. Is Stiff as jaunty and as detailed? The cover is off-putting, though.
Agree about the cover – it is a bit off-putting.
Stiff is a great slab of 70s Boogie, with added Curtis Mayfield intrusions
I’ve never really enjoyed White Denim but loved Bop English so tried Stiff (despite the awful sleeve – I assume it’s ‘ironic’!) and I really like it. I haven’t gone back to see if I now ‘get’ the earlier White Denim stuff yet but if you like Bop English you’ll probably like Stiff. I got my copy as a free download from Freegal so if you’re signed up for that, check it first and spend your cash on something else.
My Amazon technique is to have a few “original Album Classics” on my wishlist so I can bump up any order quite a lot if required. If you’re just short at any time, and item like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000NM4OHK/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE will bump it up and save the cash….. did you also know that when you get an order sent to an Amazon Locker, it arrives earlier than it would with standard free delivery and is still free… and it’s in when you aren’t!
Good tips, John. I have a lot of plugs for earphones instead of rulers but the same principle.
I feared this thread would result in me spending far more than five quid and my fears are confirmed.
*adds Stiff to basket*
Might I suggest No Way There From Here by Laura Cantell. Perfect for a summer evening and an album that continues to grow on me… it definitely ticks two of your boxes, hopefully more x
Country Rock, yet loved by John Peel. Must be something unusual going on here.
There’s no rock in Laura, Tiggs, pure country, without western, an exquisitely pure voice without the sometimes shrillness that can go with purity, and good accompaniment.
Even more usual, then.
Can I suggest this one? Very nice blues compilation, with Wilco’s imprimatur….and only £6+ for a double CD…
I have Wilko’s book but I haven’t started it yet. I love the man. I have over 50% of this collection already but it is cheap enough to still be a contender.
Get Prime.
John Prime – got all his albums.
Get lost! If I got Prime, I’d be lost for ever.
Only £3.99 and free delivery, and should be in every household, but sadly isn’t.
Hurry – only 5 left in stock!
Get his first solo album while you’re there as well.
Wow, that first one is pricey! But there’s a used copy for £6.something…
(Psst…alternatively, just PM me and I’ll burn a copy for you!)
The cover is beautiful (Andreas Mattson’s). How would you describe the music?
Beautiful pop for grown-ups, steeped in melancholy but leaving you achingly happy (apart from the instrumental first track on both albums, they are a bit of an acquired taste…)
Lyrics dealing with not being young anymore, relationship break-ups, everyday middle-age life and hopes. May not sound like a cheerful thing, but is absolutely lovely in every way.
Oh yes. Sounds great. And I like quirky instrumental prologues.
The title is appealing. There are no reviews, which is probably a good thing. The only problem is that it’s too cheap, Locust. I’d need another item costing at least £2:04!
Well, as you can never get too many albums, that should only be a bonus!
Tigger,
If you are going to play some new, may I suggest one of the following:
Christine And The Queens – “Chaleur Humane”
Ben Watt – “Fever Dream”
Old Fire – “Songs From The Haunted South”
I already have Ben Watt. It’s properly with a nice bit of Butler bite. Something puts me off Christine And The Queens. I’m really not sure what. I’ll do a bit of youtubing later.
Old Fire looks terrible (what’s attractive about that cover?) but the description of the music is right up my street.
Old Fire is cheaper from the market place, even with p&p. Duly bought!
@Chrisf and @biggles. Old Fire is beautiful and unsettling, rather like an American version of Broadcast without the childhood memories. Thank you.
Appetite For Destruction. Go on.
As I suspected, they can’t give it away. Currently priced at £3:99.
It’s a classic! Get two!
One for each breast?
One for each bin?
*thwack*
Do what, mate?
I had Zena The Warrior Princess in mind but, looking at her picture again just now, her breast plates are rather larger than CDs.
Well the weather is warm at the moment.
I assume that means a couple of CDs would be woefully inadequate for you as well.
Jet Plane and Oxbow by Shearwater is only 6.99, my favourite album of the year so far.
Loud yet fun.
*adds to list*
Wilcox YHF 6 squid
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/r.html?C=18OH9KGHPVWM7&R=3O4RSMEN6TLUH&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FYankee-Hotel-Foxtrot-Wilco%2Fdp%2FB00005YXZH%2Fref%3Dpe_942301_124367711_swf_em_r_n_awd_d_DukLxbB8E4N3G_tt&A=E8KBHATXIT4RWXGNMRKLABAOP8SA&H=FKOS363UZJKETRGJH3FCNDCAWCOA&ref_=pe_942301_124367711_swf_em_r_n_awd_d_DukLxbB8E4N3G_tt
I have the original CD. Anything extra on this reissue worth forking out for?
No, but other Wilco albums are around the same price e.g. A Ghost is Born if you are lacking that one
Do you have Black Love by The Afghan Whigs? It’s like a noir novel turned into a 5′ silver disc, a torrent of Greg Dulli’s self loathing, revenges and remorse to the sound of rock music made by people who really love soul and classic R&B. The crime narratives and alpha male posturing put you in mind of classic hiphop, while Dulli’s howl echoes a thousand impassioned soul singers. It’s the music equivalent of a Scorsese mob movie. You know these are bad people doing bad things, and you wouldn’t want them in your house, but at the same time, damn, they’re cool.
I have a couple of their albums but not Black Love. Your impassioned description has me teetering on the buy button.
You must! I’d love to hear what you think of it. I think it’s their masterpiece. An awesome record, not a weak track on it.
OK. I’ve done it. Bought from marketplace, I’ll get back to you.
Yay!
May I suggest a compilation which I think may be up your street – Norman Jay presents Skank and Boogie. Starts off with St German covering The Pink Panther theme and includes Delroy Wilson.The Chi Lites and Michael Mc Donald covering Living for the City among many delights.
I’m very fond of Norman Jay. Usually, his compilations contain some absolute gems rubbing shoulders with a couple that are just lumps of coal. Is this one more consistent?
Tigger,
Can I suggest Bobby Charles by Bobby Charles if you’ve not got it already. A great self-contained album apparently including Dr John and members of the Band as backing musicians – £5.99.
Great suggestion, Andrew, but I do own it already. I’ll fish it out and listen again today.
If anyone doesn’t own it, it’s a steal at this price.
Not only a steal but a masterpiece.
Duly ordered.
This is old but also new in that it came out in the US last year but only came out in Europe this year, to coincide with her tour with Hannah Aldridge and is where I discovered her.
On the downside it is £5:00 above your threshold.
On the upside it is an album titled Royal Blue, the colour of your (and my) team.
It contains a song titled “Jesus Would Have Let Me Choose The Restaurant”, so how could you not love an album with that song on.
It’s by Lilly Hiatt.
Looks excellent.
I second the recommendation of the Old Fire album – I posted a track from it here a few weeks ago.
Failing that, I’m quite enjoying the Nee one from Bear’s Den. Only a couple of listens in, but it feels like a grower…..
*places Old Fire in basket*
Gregory Porter -Take Me to The Alley
Jazz vocalist . Won a grammy his equally excellent previous cd Liquid Spirit.
New York area, big African American who wears some sort of deerstalker cap, even when in a suit ,on stage , off stage. Some sort of psychological thing.
Really lovely smooth voice but not too smooth, worthwhile lyrics, great band and excellent recording. I’m not a big jazz vocals but I’m really looking forard to his concert later this year.
Ideal – cooking dinner with a drink or late Sunday afternoon wih your second coffee planning the day.
Re
I think of his voice being like Bailey’s; creamy but with a firey after-taste. He sings Soul backed by a jazz group. The hat was first worn to disguise skin surgery. I’m not sure if his skin has recovered or not but the hat isn’t coming off yet.
I loved Liquid Spirit (it was in my top ten in 2014!) but I haven’t ventured into Take Me To The Alley yet. Perhaps, I was hoping the price would fall.
Well no scat singing but still reckon jazz singer though see your point
I got the cd last week for $A15
Usually round 25
£7:99 on Tax Dodgers. Well in range. *added to basket*.
How about Afrodeezia, Marcus Millers slave journey opus, with music inspired from africa through the deep south and beyond. And, knowing you are partial to a bit of ngoni, he plays, understandably, bass ngoni on a couple of tracks. He also and exquisitely, plays bass clarinet elsewhere, to complement his fifteen fingers bass style.
There was a point in time when I loathed Marcus Miller (Tutu, since you ask). Now, I think he’s an artist growing old disgracefully (file alongside Ry Cooder, Paul Simon, Elza Soares, Calypso Rose, Seasick Steve, Loretta Lynn and Bettye LaVette). His last two albums have been excellent.
Anything by Stackridge. You know you want to.
I’ve never knowingly wanted Stackridge.
But, thanks for the suggestion, Beany.
I’ve been playing this to death recently. It’s been around a couple of years but I hadn’t realised it was out even though I have all his other albums.
I haven’t heard of him.
I visit the Lowry Gallery regularly. There is a painting of the sea that is so grey it is difficult to discern the horizon. That cover reminds me of it.
My second choice would be Anian, 2nd LP by welsh language new-age folkies 9bach. Feeling you recoil, think counterpointing female vocals, harp, hypnotic human grooves that sound near electronic and Obelesque micro-melodies. (Yup, below the belt assault on your purse, but certainly similar in a very different way.) Try a sample:
Point of order, retro. Isn’t that 9Bach’s third album? You obviously don’t live as close to Wales as I do!
Me and HP Saucey recommend Priest = Aura by The Church. Sprawling it is, sprawling psychedelic jingle jangle . The first two tracks are worth the purchase money alone
Here’s the title track
I’ve been burnt by The Blurred Crusade before now. Is this any better? I don’t dispute their musicianship. I just find their melodies meander like lost souls into dead ends.
It’s less obvious than the Blurred Crusade which I love by the way. And I really must protest in the most strongest terms about their melodies, they’re extremely er melodic.
@h-p-saucecraft wot for you reck?
Tigger is a lost cause. I despair.
“melodies meander like lost souls into dead ends.”
but this is “less obvious”
that’s a no, then?
I’d recommend Granular Tales by the Woodentops at £5.99.
I got it the other day and am listening to it now. Has the same feeling as their 80’s album Giant, but perhaps a bit more grown-up.
Here’s me, all smug with my huge collection, believing in my broad. Then, you lot trample all over my delusions with your pert, pithy recommendations, most of which I’ve never heard of!
“Broad taste”!!!
I thought you were referring to Mrs Tigger.
I don’t normally correct my errors. However, that one simply had to be done. She’s a lioness, you know…
Oh, and I almost forgot. Album of the year. With one of those FaceTube clips we don’t do any more.
I enjoyed that track. I’ll seek out more.
You might as well Golden Age-it, Tig, it would be silly not to.
Either the new Kent comp. “Modernism” or, better still, the soundtrack to “Goal!” by John Hawksworth on Cherry Red.
Modernism looks good. I’m fed up with football at the moment.
Off the top of my head, maybe these two:
Marc Ribot & The Young Philadelphians – “Live in Tokyo”
Best version of the old Fly, Robin, Fly I ever heard.
Eric Holm – “Barotrauma”
The actual sound of the deep fjords.
Highly recommended, both, for your wideranging taste.
Wow! You like pretty left field stuff. I have Ribot’s Live At The Village Vanguard, in which he and his trio pay tribute to some of the most atonal jazz ever recorded by John Coltrane and Albert Ayler. The bassist, Harry Grimes, actually played with Ayler. Live In Tokyo is billed as Ornette Coleman crossed with Philly Soul. That’s quite some trick to pull off!
Best pure pop album of last ten years and it’s £5.26 – https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Days-Spring-Noah-Whale/dp/B002CQV0QS/ref=tmm_acd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Go on, it’s the summer!
You do realise that wherever you direct us, we are likely to run off in the opposite direction?
Oh for goodness sake give it a try! I played this recently to my aged aunt, my not so aged cousin and three bored teenagers and to a man they all loved it!
I’m giving it a try. The Lodestone of Wrongness is the trademark of quality.
I’ve listened to it – and know what? It’s a really nice album. Just kidding. It’s crap. Suffers from those horrible apologetic English vocals. Half-spoken, modest, diffident, kind of like Hugh Grant, if he was a voice. Yes, I’m singing I’m afraid! For my sins! Somebody had to. Muggins here drew the short straw!
Also – lashings of poignant piano stylings. Meditative, melancholic … sensitive. Nuanced. “Beautiful” arrangements. Perfect for that Islington dinner party. Pop music, Mr Wrongness? I had to listen to Motown Chartbusters Vol 5 to get the bad taste of “good taste” out of my teeth.
In short, then – you’ll like this, Tigger.
Hi Tigger,
There haven’t been too many reggae recommendations on this thread so far, so let me correct that.
1. My absolute top vote at the moment goes to the two volumes of Bunny Wailer’s original Jamaican singles on his own Solomonic records: volume 1 “Tread Along” and Volume 2 “Rise and Shine”.
They’ve been compiled and released by the guy who must be the No.1 record company man in the world at the moment for quality vintage reggae reissues, namely Naoki Ienaga of Dub Store records in Japan. This is peerles, all-killer material from one of the greatest voices of Jamaican roots music’s golden age. Sadly, because the records are Japanese imports, they’re a bit on the pricey side.
2. If you don’t have Blood and Fire’s 3 magnificient original volumes of the Aggrovators dubbed at King Tubby’s studio (i.e. Dub gone Crazy, Dub Gone Crazy 2 and Dub Like Dirt), they you can catch up with them all, as the 44 tracks have been repackaged as a handy double CD (or 4LPs) by VP Records, entitled “The Aggrovators – Dubbing At King Tubby’s”. These recordings are stellar, and simply mandatory in any half-decent collection of dub records.
*sharp intake of breath through clenched teeth*
Duco, I really value your contributions but those Bunny Wailer collections are above £25 each. Do you think they will get a ‘conventional’ release?
I already have Dub Gone Crazy but that 2CD is still good value.
If you are a fan of Orchestra Baobab then I strongly recommend the Amara Toure 1973 – 1980 Analog Africa compilation. It includes every track from his Amara Toure Accompagne Par L’Orchestre Massako LP which is regarded by some as one of the very best African albums ever recorded. You’d be lucky to pick up the LP for under £200.
Oooh, yes please!
Clutch – cracking tunes and real attack.
Heavy Metal is not currently represented in my collection. Perhaps, now is the time to correct that omission?
Open that door ….
(I might call them heavy stoner blues)
Sixteen years ago, when David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label was putting out some wonderful off-centre compilations, it produced something called ‘Afro-Peruvian Classics: The Soul of Black Peru.’ I’ve never heard any music like this, before or since…..This isn’t, to my ears, the best cut, but it’s the perfect introduction.
I bought a couple back in the day. But not that one. Very tempting…
Eventually, probably, Tigger, you are going to have to deal with the Kronos Quartet, their brilliance and their relentless work ethic and 30 years of output so far. Not going to get much for a fiver, however.
But this compilation does look tasty and would give an initial bridgehead. For only a fiver!
I think I might leap straight in to The Kronos Quartet regardless of price. Where should I start?
Attaboy. My knowledge is far from compendious, you could try a box set (pricey!)
or this (featuring the closest thing they’ve had to a hit – Purple Haze)
/www.amazon.co.uk/Quartet-Sculthorpe-Sallinen-Nancarrow-Hendrix/dp/B000005IXL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469568048&sr=8-1&keywords=kronos+quartet
and strongly recommend this one (features John Zorn) to get you up and running
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Winter-was-Hard-Kronos-Quartet/dp/B000005IZ0/ref=sr_1_66?ie=UTF8&qid=1469567783&sr=8-66&keywords=kronos+quartet
Salome is beautiful also but a whopping 93 quid, better choose used
/www.amazon.co.uk/Riley-Salome-Dances-Kronos-Quartet/dp/B001F3MDPQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469569372&sr=8-1&keywords=kronos+quartet+salome
I’ve gone for a secondhand Salome. I’ll let you know how I get on!
Yeah, do. Tigger. Mine’s running right now. Not many musicians have the facility of fading in and out of consciousness as this work does. Remarkable “band”.
Really?!?! How do they manage to keep playing during the unconscious phase?
Four heads become one? It’s quite a business plan they have there: open-minded string quartet does anything and everything till they drop down dead. No competition to speak of.
Oh, consciousness you mean. This was supposed to give an impression of their dynamic skill, very obvious on Salome. The music drifts ever so gently downwards into literal silence, emerging then just as gradually to startling peaks. The Ramones they ain’t.
Although, let me add, it will be no surprise when they eventually get around to doing a string quartet version of the Ramones songbook!
Judging by the length of some of these pieces, that would be a breeze!
@Declan! Listening to Salome right now. Wow!
Maybe it’s my age but two of this year’s records I am particularly enjoying are smooth jazz bordering – but for me staying on the right side of – bland late night middle of the road. Charles Lloyd and the Marvels ‘Long to See You’ and Kandace Springs ‘Soul Eyes’. Both somewhat north of your fiver mark but worth a listen.
What do you think of Willie Nelson’s contribution to Long To See You?
Kandace sounds perfect for me. Maybe, too perfect?
Never really understood why Willie Nelson is so revered to be honest, but it’s OK – not my favourite track on the record but it adds a bit of grit. Kandace is indeed perfect – super smooth voice, super smooth playing. But there’s nowt wrong with that when it’s done this well…
Thank you I can feel Kandace pulling on my buy finger.
The new Tegan + Sarah album Love You To Death is a flab-free 31 minutes of glorious modern pop, and is just 7.99 at present. It came recommended by our bob, too, a sure sign of quality.
Ah yes. I’m keen on that pair but haven’t bought their album yet!
There’s always that 16-disc Ravin’ Ravers box set “Raved Up” (German import on Disky) which is currently selling for 5.04 of your Great British pounds (although there are many used sets available from 0.01 GBP). Each set is numbered and signed by Peeky Slowhurst and contains a lock of his pubic hair.
The “Disky” reference didn’t go unnoticed, although “Proper” might have worked just as well.
Hah!
Bear Family, surely? It’s the first stage in the process of cautious reassessment.
Bear Family might work, but they are a prestige reissue company with unsurpassed attention to detail. Their products are also very expensive.
Proper and Disky are at the other end of the market with budget priced releases and out of copyright multi disc sets. Much more suited to the Ravin’ Ravers, I feel.
Bear Family is a great label. Treated Rick Nelson like royalty. The Ravers deserved a shit label. That box set houses the discs in cardboard slots. There’s a lavish four-page “booklet” which reproduces the front and back of the box with a label catalogue on pp 2/3. The box is made of thin, soft card and the discs themselves are printed in red and black with lots of typos.
It was by way of being a little joke, chaps. A joke about a joke, if you will. The joke being that the Ravin’ Ravers would never in a million years warrant the Bear Family curatorial treatment. Geddit?
You are just too smart for me, at least. Perhaps Johnny was adding to the levels of irony, though?
No. I fell for it too.